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Behind them the sun sank lazily, a huge, lop-sided ball of firetoo-bright-to-be-looked-at, and the gathering fingers of dusk stolesoftly through the trees, casting wan shadows where they touched. Theair was thin and cold with the breath of approaching night; imps ofdarkness lurked in the tree-roots and hollows.

But Meg felt no fear. She was alive with warmth, light, happiness. Thehills about her were soft-bosomed and gay with autumn's garments; nolonger was the landscape salt and drear as it had been back there inthe 'Kota territory, in the Place of the Gods. This was her homeland,her native Jinnia. Beyond that turn was a rill, a half day's marchbeyond the rill lay the village of her own tribeswomen....

From her seat astride Nessa, she looked down upon Daiv, her Man, andher voice was vibrant with happiness.

"We are almost there, Daiv! Soon you will meet my people, talk withthem, learn to love them as I do."

Daiv smiled at her dubiously.

"That I am prepared to do, Golden One. I can't help wondering, though,how they will accept me. After what you've told me about the Men ofyour tribe—" He shook his head.

Meg made a happy-sound deep in her throat; slipped from Nessa's backand covered Daiv's lips with her hands.

"There is nothing to fear, Daiv. The Men of my Clan—pah!—they arenot like you. They are weak things, meant only for breeding. The Motherwill know, the moment she sees you, that you are one like the Gods. Shetoo made the pilgrimage. She will rejoice and be glad. And—" Meg movedcloser into the circle of his arms. "She will be gladder still when shesees our happiness."

"I hope so," said Daiv soberly. His lips met hers in thetouching-of-mouths that he had taught her. Then, "But it is too latefor us to finish our journey today," he said. "We must find a place tomake camp."

"Just beyond the turn," Meg told him excitedly. "I know every inchof this country, Daiv. When I was young, and studying under the Motherto become a Priestess of the Clan, I used to ride out here to seeksolitude and the guidance of the Gods. Just beyond the turn there isforest and a small stream. This is an ancient land, my lover; the treesare mighty and strong. But—" Her eyes found his adoringly. "But not somighty and strong as you."

Daiv said, "Now, Golden One!" reprovingly, but Meg felt happy-crinklesin her heart as she saw the way he drew back his shoulders to lead theway into the forest. She did not mount Nessa again, but walked behindDaiv, leading the tamed and captive doe by its bridle.

Nessa had been Daiv's gift to her, a mount to take the place of thehorse Meg had lost on her way to the Place of the Gods when the WildOne had attacked her. "A wedding gift," Daiv had called it—which didnot make sense. But, then, Daiv was always saying strange things. Thatwas, Meg thought, a trifle awefully, because he came from Kirki, whichwas a holy place far to the southland, near the Land of the Escape. Histribespeople were direct descendants of those Ancient Ones who, longages ago, had fled from Earth to the evening star in the bowels of ametal bird that spat fire.[1]

Daiv's skill had captured Nessa, wild woodland doe, but Meg'sgentleness had tamed her. She had borne Meg across all these foreignterritories; through Braska and Zurrie, to the blue-shining fields ofTucky; now, at last, back to Meg's beloved Jinnia.

It had been a long journey and a strange one. Many things had Megseen; curiosities that would thrill the Women of her Clan to startled,"Aiees!" of astonishment when she told of them. She had seen the long,straight roads built by the Ancient Ones; their smoothcreet nowcracked and worn but still easier to travel than the tortuous woodlandpaths. She had seen the remnants of a gigantichoam called Sinnaty,where once had lived a great folk called "the Reds." She and Daivhad lingered for three days with the tribeswomen of Loovil (whoseMother knew the Mother of Meg's Clan, and had sent greetings and giftsof ripe, fragrant bacca); there had they seen an antique statue of ahorse-god named Manowah.

They had even—Meg thrilled at the recollection—slept in one ofthe traditional oakenhoams peculiar to the Tucky folk; dwellingsimmortalized in the Tucky tribal song, "—sing one song of my oakenTuckyhoam—"

And, "It is such a great land, Daiv!" Meg had said one night, lyingsleepless and excited over the wonders she had seen that day. "Sucha great land, this Tizathy! How I wish I had lived in it when theAncient Ones had welded it all together."

"A great land, indeed," was Daiv's answer. "But what did you call it?Tizathy?"

"Yes," explained Meg. "That was its name. One of the ancient songstells of it. 'My country, Tizathy; sweet land of liberty—'"

Daiv looked at her with vast respect. "Someday we must visit my people,Golden One. The elders of my tribe will want to talk to you. You havesuch great learning...."

But now, at last, their journey was over. Jinnia's sweet green hillscradled them; tomorrow they would join and touch hands with Meg'ssisters. Tonight they would sleep in the little forest Meg knew sowell....

Daiv turned, an unfamiliar wrinkle-look on his forehead. "Golden One,didn't you say we were coming to forest land?"

"Yes, Daiv. Right before you. There—"

Then Meg was at his side, and her eyes were round with wonderment."But—but this is not right!" she cried.

It was no forest that confronted them. Where Meg's memory had toldher would be a riotous jungle of intertwining green, great trees thatbrushed the heavens, high archways of leaves and thick-boled woodlandmonarchs, there was nothing but a vast and desolate plain, strewn withbristling twigs!

Stark and severe was that glade, swept bare of all vegetation savethese thousands upon countless thousands of twigs. No grass, no shrubs,no flowers. Rough, bare hillside, and ankle-deep—the host of stuntedbranches.

"I—I don't understand!" said Meg bewilderedly. She looked at Daiv,fear suddenly cold in her heart, and she made a magic sign over herbreast to ward away the evil wood ghosts. "This is not as it should be,Daiv! Something—"

The plain echoed Daiv's boisterous happy-sound.

"Something tells me," he chuckled, "you've made a mistake, Golden One.So you know every inch of this country, eh? Well—" He shrugged. "It isa cloudless night. And plain or forest, this is as good a place as anyto make camp. Get water, Meg, for the cawfee, and I will build a fire."

Silently, with a sun-heat burning her cheeks, Meg moved to the rill andgot water. Then, as silently again, she returned to the spot Daiv haddesignated. By this time she expected he would have made fire-sparkswith a rock and the bit of flame-metal he carried in his pouch—but toher great surprise, no crackling blaze awaited her.

Instead, Daiv was standing upright beside one of the branched twigsthat festooned the plain. There was an angry-look on his face;perspiration dripped from his forehead and his throat. The look heturned to her was red with shame.

"Meg," he began, "Meg—a magic is upon me. I am weak. I have nostrength!"

"Strength, Daiv?"

"Yes. Look!" He bent to the broken branch before him. His strong thighstensed; the muscles of his back and shoulders corded with strain. Freshperspiration broke from his pores as he strained to lift the tiny twig.Then his hands, white-knuckled and trembling, lifted clear; he lookedat her again.

"It is so small," he said in a faint, hurt voice. "Yet I cannot liftit!"

Meg sprang to his side; bent to the twig. She was slim, a pale, goldenshadow beside Daiv, but she was strong. Her hands grasped the roughbark; she lifted—

And fell forward, thrown completely off balance by that weightimponderable. Coarse soil rasped her knees, but she did not feel thepain. All lesser emotions were lost in the swift, superstitious fearthat engulfed her.

"The forest is accursed, Daiv! We must flee!"

Hand in hand they raced wildly across the plain to the shelter of thewoodland at its farther rim. The rays of the dying sun cast theirshadows long before them, and a dry rattle of mirth seemed to rise fromthe tangle of unyielding twigs that bruised their feet....

Meg dreamed fear-dreams that night. She was lost in a jungle of treeshard as bone; as she fled beneath them, these trees groaned and toppledtoward her, their motionless branches clutching like skeletal fingers.She moaned, cried Daiv's name—then wakened to find him leaning overher anxiously.

"Meg! Listen!"

In the cool morning the sound carried clearly to Meg's ears. A humanvoice, high-pitched in hideous screaming. A hoarse, grating voice. Megshuddered.

"A Wild One, Daiv! He has fallen into one of our traps."

"Wild One? Trap?"[2]

"I'll show you." Meg rose swiftly, instantly awake as any forestanimal. Bright morning sun cascaded down upon her, wakening a sistergleam of gold on her arms and thighs, touching to warm life the tawnydown between her high, proud breasts. Save for the white girdle offlesh beneath her fur breech-clout, Meg was all gold; her hair, piledin a loose knot upon her head, was like a shining crown. It was not allWomen, Daiv thought briefly, whose charm withstood the early morningsun. He was lucky to have found as a mate this slim lance of loveliness.

He hungered for her lips. But he was Daiv—"He-who-would-learn"—andhere was a new mystery. He followed Meg. Meg followed the plaintivecries.

They stopped, at length, at the lip of a cleft in the earth. It hadformerly been covered over with a webbing of boughs and ferns, but nowthat cover was broken, and from the bottom of the pit came the howlsof pain that had drawn them.

Meg's lips were grim, white lines.

"He is in there," she said—and as she spoke she unslung her huntingbow, slipped a bone-tipped arrow from her quiver. She stepped to themouth of the crevice, drew aim. Then—

"Wait, Golden One!"

Daiv swept the weapon from her hands. He looked down into the pit,cried out sharply, then, ignoring Meg's warning, lowered himselfinto it. A moment later he was back again, slipping his burden fromhis shoulder. His burden was, as Meg had guessed, a brutish, hairyMan-thing; foul with the stench of unwashed sweat and grease, grimywith blood and dirt.

"You were going to kill him!" Daiv accused sternly. "He is a Man,wounded, and you were going to kill him!"

The priestess said haughtily, "He is not a Man, he is one of the WildOnes. Of course I was going to kill him. That is the Law."

"It is a poor Law," grunted Daiv. He was bending over the Wild One now,cleaning his wounds with handfuls of clean, dried grass. "If the Womenof your tribe build traps like these for Men, I'm not sure I want tomeet them. Aagh! False tops, and sharpened sticks beneath!"

Meg the Priestess disappeared, and in her place stood Meg the wife, alook of bafflement in her eyes.

"But, Daiv—" Faintly. "You killed one of the Wild Ones yourself. Thefirst time we met."

"That," said Daiv curtly, "was because he tried to linber you. I wantedyou for myself. There—he's coming around now. How do you feel, Man?Are you all right?"

The Wild One's eyes were uncomprehending as they saw the golden-limbedpriestess and this strange, hairless Man before him. His bearded lipsparted in a strangled fragment of speech.

"I am ... all right." Then, to Daiv alone, "You ... saved my life!"

Daiv nodded. Thoughts crawled slowly behind the Wild One's eyes; hereached a decision. From his filthy loin cloth he drew a chipped andrusted blade; this he offered to Daiv. With the other hand he smoothedflat the verminous tangle of hair above his heart.

"My life is yours, stranger," he said humbly.

Meg's eyes were wide with astonishment. From infancy she had beentaught that the Wild Ones were mad creatures without mercy, withouthuman sentiments; beasts that prowled the forests with but two thoughtsin their minds: to satisfy the hungers of their bellies and to kill.Yet here was a Wild One displaying the civilized emotion of gratitude.To Daiv she said querulously,

"He must be crazed, Daiv! Let us take him with us to the village. Thetribe Mother will want to see this marvel—a Wild One with a Woman'sinstincts."

"He goes free!" said Daiv. He was still curt. He lifted the Wild One tohis feet. "Can you find your fellows, Wild One?" he asked.

The Wild One nodded mutely.

"Then, go!" ordered Daiv. "And be more careful of traps in the future.Begone!"

But the Wild One hesitated an instant longer. The words came haltinglyfrom his lips—but they sprang from his heart. "My life is still yours,Hairless One. Should ever you decide to claim it, you will find menorth of this spot. In a hillside cave by the waterfall...."

Then he was gone; a brutish, gnarled, hairy shadow sliding through thematted jungle. And to Meg, "Come. Let us find your people," said Daiv."I am minded to see what folk would harm poor brutes like that one."

Meg pondered for hours, as they marched those last few miles to hernative village, but she could not quite discover why it was that hercheeks and throat felt so hot. It was as though the fever-god waswithin her, but she knew she was not ill....

And so, finally, she riding upon Nessa's back, Daiv striding before heron swift, sure feet, they came to Meg's home. To the village of theJinnia Clan that was her own.

And again the remembrance of the massive twig and the strange forestreturned, bringing with it a half-fear. It lay uneasily in their mindslike the brooding residue of a dream....

CHAPTER II

The Invaders

The glad word sprang first from the lips of the Warriors who guardedthe gates of the village. "It is Meg! Meg has returned from herpilgrimage. Tell all!"

It spread to the Workers in the fields; they rose from their labors,wiping grit-coarsened hands upon their thighs; their eyes brightened."Meg has returned!" And the breeding-mothers heard, they lolling theirplump, lush bodies in the sunlit doorways. They heard, and their softeyes filled with ready tears; they waddled forward, their bulging hipsswaying like ripened corn. "It is Meg, come back from the Place of theGods!"[3]

The Men, too, heard. They simpered foolishly and rolled their great,soft eyes and primped their oiled hair. And word reached the tribalMother who came from herhoam to meet the Priestess. They met withinthe confines of Meg's village; the aged Mother moved to greet Meg witharms outstretched.

"You are returned safely, my child. May the Gods live forever!"

Meg could not speak for the little happy-imp who clutched her throatand made water in her eyes. Her hands, tight and hot on the witheredhands of the old Mother, were speech enough. The Mother bent forwardand made a sign upon Meg's forehead.

"You have learned the Great Secret, my daughter; I can tell that by thelook in your eyes. Now you have passed the last barrier between you andthe Motherhood of our Clan. Tonight we will have a great feast; at itsconclusion I will invest you in the ultimate mysteries of your task—"

There was a stir in the crowd surrounding Meg and the Mother; Daiv,chafing with impatience at being thus ignored, had thrust himselfforward to his wife's side.

"What is this, Meg!" cried the Mother. "Have you turned Warrior as wellas Priestess? Where did you capture this hairless Man-thing?"

Now was the moment Meg had been at once dreading and looking forwardto. She placed her hand proudly within Daiv's, and her voice was theclarion call of trumpets.

"It is no Man-thing, Mother. It is a Man; a real Man such as were theGods! Not a scrimping parody like our breeders, nor a foul brute likethe Wild Ones—but a Man. He is Daiv, my mate!"

"Mate!" The word leaped not only from the mouth of the Mother; it wasrasped by the Workers and the Warriors, it was piped in the shrill,frightened quaver of the breeding-mothers. The Mother's eyes clouded.

"Mate, Meg? What madness is this? Surely you know a priestess who wouldbe a Mother may not mate with a Man!"

Daiv said humbly, yet at the same time pridefully, "So Meg believed,O Mother, until I taught her differently—and until she learnedthe Great Secret at the feet of the Gods. I am Daiv, known as'He-who-would-learn'; I come from the place of the Escape. My peoplelive by the Laws of the Ancient Ones. In our land Man and Woman areequal; we give and take love in the sacred customs of marriage."

Meg wished desperately that Daiv had said nothing. Given time to leadup to these revelations, she felt she might have presented the argumentmore convincingly. But in Daiv's deep voice these truths—which she nowrecognized to be truths—sounded like rankest heresies.

And they drew from the assembled listeners the response Meg had feared.There was the snicking of metal upon metal as the Warriors half-drewtheir swords from their scabbards; a low rumble of dissent growled fromthe throats of the Workers. The breeding-mothers squealed like strickenanimals, fled with hands covering their ears lest the Gods destroy themfor having heard this impious outburst.

Lora, Chieftain of the Warriors, stepped forward, her lean jaw grim."Blasphemy, O Mother! By Tedhi, She-who-laughs, this Man-thing befoulsus with his lies. Shall I strike him down?"

She took a step toward Daiv. Meg cried out, moved between them, turnedbeseeching eyes to the Mother. "No! I beg of you, O Mother, no! Lookupon Daiv! Look—and remember that whichyou saw, many winters ago,in the Place of the Gods! You know I speak the truth, Mother, and thatDaiv, too, tells that which is so.

"Tell my sisters that this is well; that this is as it should be.Youknow—"

Jain, Captain of the Workers, shook her head sorrowfully. In a gentlevoice she said, "Our priestess has gone mad, O Mother. The rigors ofthe pilgrimage have been too much for her. What is the law? Death forher, as well as for this hairless Man-thing? Or, having taken herself aMan, must she become a breeding-mother?"

But the Mother stayed her. There was a faraway look in her eyes; Megknew that the aged leader of the Clan was remembering a pilgrimage mademany, many years ago to the Place of the Gods. The Mother, Meg knew,had once looked upon the majestic figures of Jarg, Ibrim, Taamuz andTedhi on their great, rocky promontory at Mount Rushmore and had seen,as Meg had seen, that the Gods were, in truth, Men like Daiv. A wordfrom the Mother now....

The Mother spoke. There was infinite sadness in her voice.

"It is the Law," she said, "that none shall strive to change the waysof the Clan. You, Meg, have ignored the Law. You and your mate will begiven justice."

And she turned away.

A gasp spun Meg's gaze to Daiv. His face was crimson with ananger-look; great veins throbbed in his forehead. He roared, "Here,then, is the joyous welcome your Clan offers us, Golden One! Justice?What kind of justice may we expect from a doddering, thwarted oldharridan—"

"Daiv!" screamed Meg.

But her cry broke too late. With one swift gesture Daiv had wrenchedthe sword from the hands of Lora. Now he tested its blade, swept Meginto the circle of his arms, and laughed at the startled clanswomendefiantly.

"So you would judge a Man?" he taunted. "A Man of the Kirki tribe?Come, then, you filthy diggers of dirt and loveless scarecrows. Letyour judgment be the matching of my steel against yours!"

There was a tense moment of silence. Then anger, bitter as the fruitof the simmon tree, flamed in the voices of Meg's sisters. A score ofWarriors sprang forward, swords drawn. At their flank advanced theWorkers, hoes and adzes uplifted. Meg smiled piteously at Daiv andmurmured a swift prayer to the Gods. It was grievous to die thus,before the blades of loved ones....

And a faint, thin cry stayed them all! They turned to see, at thedeserted southward gate, the torn and bleeding figure of a Warriorwho, hair disheveled, face scarred and raw, hands and arms deep-scoredwith gory cicatrices, pulled herself within the Jinnia camp draggingbehind her one sturdy leg and one blackened, withered stump.

In that moment of dread wonder it did not even seem strange to theclanswomen that the first to reach the wounded Warrior's side should bethe stranger, Daiv. But Daiv it was who raised her in his arms.

The visitor's eyes were filmed with pain, horror, fatigue. Theyunveiled now, and an indomitable purpose shone through. In a huskyvoice she faltered, "It is too late ... to save me. Soon I willjoin ... my Clanswomen ... and the Gods. Save ... yourselves!"

There was unbelievable gentleness in Daiv's voice.

"What is it, Warrior?" he asked. "What enemy thus cruelly destroyedyou? Of what would you warn us?"

From some deep-hidden well the messenger drew new strength. Her eyesblazed as she answered, "I bid you flee to the secret spots of themountains. An evil foe even now marches upon your camp. Stunted andvicious little yellow-skinned Men-things who linber[4] our Clans,destroy our fighters with tubes that maim and stun."

The aged Mother was beside her now.

"Who are you, daughter?" she begged. "Whence come you?"

"I am Vivyun," labored the refugee, "of the Durm Clan. Short daysago came strange lightings in the heavens; mad thunders burst in theforests about our village—"

Jain interrupted, startled, "Mother! The omens we heard night beforelast in the forest to our west!" and Meg looked swiftly at Daiv. Shecried,

"The forest through which we fled, Daiv! The wood of heavy twigs!"

Daiv silenced her with a thoughtful nod. Vivyun's halting speechcontinued.

"—then came the onslaught. Armored demons, the color of mustard seed,burst upon us. Our Warriors went to meet them but the dwarfs loosedlights from sticks and where the soldiers had stood, now were butinch-long, stony parodies of Women. One of the lights played for aninstant upon my leg—"

Meg looked and shuddered. The dying Warrior's leg was firm and roundfrom hip to thigh; ten inches above the knee it ended abruptly in ascoriated stump from which depended an ugly, wartlike excrescencewhich—Meg saw with sickening horror—was the perfectly formedsimulacrum of a human limb.

Daiv was muttering savagely, "Speak on, Warrior!"

"They come," persisted Vivyun, "to capture Women. Like the Wild Ones,they die out for lack of Mates. Out of the far southland they come,from a land called Mayco. They bear other strange weapons. A stickthat shoots lights of insanity ... a wall they build of invisiblebricks...."

"More!" pleaded Daiv and the Mother in one breath as Vivyun faltered."More!"

But a strange, foolish look glazed the dying one's eyes. Her lipsmoved whitely and her breath was a whisper. "You are a strange ...creature," she said to Daiv. "Somehow you ... make it easy to die ...Man-thing...."

Then she was still.

Lora, Chieftain of the Warriors, broke the spell that bound them allwith a thunderous cry.

"Invaders? No invaders can take the village of the Jinnia tribe! Toarms, Warriors! To your posts. Let these yellow dwarfs attackus,and—" She laughed evilly.

Daiv sprang to his feet; his voice a peremptory challenge. "Hold,Warrior! Did you not hear what Vivyun said? These invaders have magicweapons; sticks that spit insanity and crumpling death. It is best weshould flee to the hills. Maybe there we can devise some way—"

Meg's cheeks were hot with sorrow for Daiv as the Warrior Chieftainscorned him with her eyes.

"It is a Man-thing after all!" she spat. "A hairless Wild One with thecowardly instincts of all Men. Fool! Know you not the dying one babbledfoolishness in her delirium? Sticks that dwarf Warriors! Walls withoutbricks!"

Daiv gritted, "I have no time for argument, Warrior." To the Motherhe cried beseechingly, "There is little love lost between me and thyClan, O Mother. But because you are Meg's sisters, I would see youlive. Believe me, there was truth in Vivyun's warning. I myself haveheard elders speak of a sunlit land called 'Mayco,' peopled by savagedemons—"

The Mother pressed her hands together in an agony of indecision. ToMeg, in her desperation, she turned, crying, "See now, O my daughter,how heavy is the task of being a Mother?" And she muttered, half toherself, "If this be true, then all are doomed unless we flee. But ifit be lies—"

Daiv, man of action, tired swiftly of this maundering. For the secondtime that afternoon he reached for Meg's hand.

"Come, Golden One! Let these fools die; let them become stiffened twigsof humans as the branches we saw in the forest were stiffened anddwarfed trees! I will takeyou to safety—"

Meg took a step forward. And then—one of the Women laughed. A sneeringlaugh. Meg's cheeks flamed, and her outstretched hand dropped to herside. She shook her head.

"No, Daiv." Sadly. "I had not dreamed you were—"

"A coward?" Daiv supplied the word wrathfully. "I am a coward to wiselyflee from the magic of men who know the secrets of the Ancient Ones? Bythe Gods, Golden One, it is you who have lost your senses. If you willnot come willingly, I'll save you in spite of yourself. Come!"

And he sprang toward her. Meg stumbled backward, torn by a thousandconflicting emotions. Then, of a sudden, came that which coalesced allher emotions into one indistinguishable chaos. There came a mightyroaringsough from the woodlands south of the village; a portion ofthe walls caved inward with a mighty crash; spent air howled like thebreath of the flood-time gods, and—

In the opening, golden sunlight gleamed on glinting armor! A horde ofdwarfed and evil yellow men, shining sticks in their hands, stormed inthrough the rent!

CHAPTER III

The Mate of Grensu

What happened then was never afterward to be clear in Meg's mind. Sherealized that the air was alive with the cries of the attacking dwarfs;that these cries found echoes in the shouts of her Warrior sisters whosprang forward to meet them.

She was conscious that a Warrior at her side, with a half-utteredchoke of fear, had suddenly met breast-high a streaming light expelledfrom one of the invaders' sticks; she heard the clatter of metal uponrock as the Warrior's sword fell. She did not realize she had stoopedinstinctively to retrieve the fallen weapon until she found herselfcharging forward, cries ripping her throat, the sword waving above herhead.

There seemed to be two Megs; one who raced futilely, vaingloriously,toward that crouching, smirking band of attackers; the other who stoodsomewhere apart from the mad press, watching the battle with impartialjudgment. It was the first Meg who flashed down upon a stunted yellowman unnoticed, swung her heavy sword in a flailing motion that splithis hauberk and sent his headless body toppling to earth.

It was the second Meg who noticed, with incredibly cool appraisal,that from the sticks of the invaders emerged two different types oflight. One, a pale, greenish light, caused those bathed in it to droptheir swords, cease their shouting, wander aimlessly off across theblood-drenched field. The other, a cherry-flamed light, was the horrorof which the Durm Warrior, Vivyun, had warned.

The attackers seemed only to useit when dire necessity pressed. Itsresults were ghastly. Meg's brain reeled before the shock of seeing aWorker on her right run full-tilt into that cherry beam. One instantthe Worker was there; the next she was gone. A sharpened hoe lay besidea blasted doll-like thing from which, momentarily, rose a steamy mistand a nauseating stench.

Given weapons to match those of the yellow dwarfs the Jinnians mighthave won through. Their numbers were as great as those of the invaders;their spirit was that of Women fighting for their native homeland.Gallantly they pressed onward, forward—and as gallantly they died.Save for that greater portion of them who assumed the "life-in-death"Meg had marked; the stupid insanity that sent them staggering,weaponless, upon mindless errands.

For conquerors, the yellow men waged stupid war. They seemed moreintent on capturing prisoners than on destroying—or perhaps theyhad not anticipated such a stubborn resistance. Howsoever that mayhave been, time and again a member of the Jinnia Clan, evading thesticks-that-flamed, would pierce the enemy lines. There, ere the cherrylight steamed her body into brittle stone, her sword would draw thelife-blood of a yellow invader.

Meg had learned much in her long pilgrimage to and from the Place ofthe Gods. Daiv had taught her how to take advantage of all naturalprotections when warring against a superior force. These guerillatactics served her well now. With the first conflict of forces she hadsprung to a place of concealment behind the ruptured wall; from thisvantage point she could see straggling invaders as they entered thevillage; could not be seen by them until their eyes widened at thesight of a dripping sword thirsting for their throats.

Four died thus beneath her blade. Cautiously, now, she ventured aglance into the yellow men's defense line.

There she saw what her quick intelligence told her must be the objectof her attack. Outside the village stood a tiny knot of dwarfs garbedin armor more glittering, more ornate, than that of those who made theattack.

These, Meg recognized, were the leaders. The commander-in-chief must bethat overripe, ochre plum in golden greaves and casque; he who stoodimpatiently fingering the handle of his light-stick as he watched hiswarriors' progress.

To think was to act. It never occurred to Meg that her solo foray wassuicidal. Hurdling the bodies of those before her, she leaped throughthe broken wall; raced, bobbing and weaving, shifting her course tomake herself an impossible target, down upon the commander's party.

As she ran, her hair broke loose from its handknit snood; lithe musclessnapped the sinews that held her cloak. She was like some magnificentgolden panther as, hair flowing behind her in a liquid honey stream,high, firm breasts rising with the quickening of her breath, shecharged down on her tribe's enemies.

Thoughts flashed dizzily through her mind. A great burst of exultation;she was too near, now, for them to stop her! Then a soul-shakingdisappointment. She had been seen! One of the officers' eyes bugged; heraised a light-stick—

Then most incredible thing of all—the commander-in-chief had seenher, and his porcine eyes, slanted and deep-sunk in rolls of saffronflesh, were glittering with delight. His left hand was beating downthe cherry-flame of the lieutenant as his right was pointing at herbreast his own stick. Light flashed—pale green. Something within Megseemed to snap; suddenly she was suffused with a sense of coolness, abewildering drainage of the fever that had coursed through her veins.

So funny. So funny to have thought this battle important. It wasn't,really. It was all a mistake. And the sword in her hand? Meg glanced atit idly, her charge slowing to a walk. She cast the sword away.

The din of conflict was a thin and distant sound. The world about herwas sweet and green ... the clouds billowed on an endless blue likeboat-sails scudding before the wind.There was something she shouldremember. There was a dancing haze before her eyes ... flowers abouther feet. Were she to wander gently, now, to that farthest field—whatwas it she could not remember?—there would be golden buttercups andthe prim, starch cornflower ripe for plucking.

Her body was numbed and drowsy with a sense of comfort. Only—therewas a Man; a Man named Daiv—only she could not be happy here. Notunless she forgot her troubles, forgot the man named Daiv, forgot theworld was spinning and reeling and swirling before her eyes like agigantic wheel going faster and faster and faster....

Then there was blackness.

Her first thought was that she had fallen, momentarily stunned, on thefield of battle. She woke with a start, groping for the sword thatshould be by her side.

It wasn't there. She touched the flabby flesh of a breeding-motherwho, flaccid-breasted and aquiver, shook beside her in an ecstasy offear. Meg gagged as she stumbled to her feet. Her limbs were stillweak beneath her, as if the veins that fed them had been fouled; herhead was filled with tiny imps who danced and shrieked unmercifully.But—she was alive! And the mists were clearing from her brain.

Now she knew there was sobbing beside her. Strange sobbing. Not thesoft, easy gulping of a breeding-mother; a harsh sound like the raspof an adze oncreet. It was Lora, Chieftain of the Warriors. Herarmor crusted with blood, her great hands twisting with grief, she wasrocking backward and forward, alternately weeping and cursing the Gods.

"Now accursed be the breeding-mother that gave me birth!" was herplaint. "This night shall my stars burn as cinders—"

Meg shook her shoulder roughly.

"Lora!"

The Warrior Chieftain's eyes recognized her. Lora cried prayerfully,"Search well your girdle, Meg! Have you a dagger upon you?"

"No. But, why—?"

Lora beat her tiny, thwarted breasts with clenched fists. "I live!" shechoked. "I, their leader, continue to live, while they lie there, inpeace and glory—"

Meg saw, then, that she was part of a group huddled in the center ofthat which had been the fortress of their Clan. They numbered morethan three score; a mixed group of battle-grimed Warriors, Workers,breeding-mothers, even one or two pale-faced, weeping Men. The studs ofthe Jinnia Clan.

But there was another group at the far end of the court. These wouldnever again either laugh or mourn. They were the dead. Workers andWarriors for the most part, although a few plump, bulbous bodies fedthe mound. In still another place lay the bodies of the slain invaders;these had been accorded more dignity. All about the arena lay curiouslyshaped pebbles which—Meg knew, shivering clammily—were not pebbles.Two stunted yellow men, grinning callously, now busied themselvesraking up these grisly objects.

Meg said, "The—the Mother?" and as if in answer to her thought, agentle voice reached her ears.

"I am here, Meg, my daughter."

Meg turned swiftly. The Mother of the Clan lay behind her, motionless,head lifted upon a bolt of cloth someone had provided. There was animage of dreadful pain in the Mother's eyes. Meg sprang to her side,heart bursting with sorrow.

"Mother—you are hurt!"

"Nay, daughter, I am slain." The Mother sighed; a wan breath of regret."They had no intent to kill me. But the rays were too potent for myaged body. I will linger yet a little while, then I must go. It is sadthat I must leave my Clan captive to a race of beasts like these."

Meg said, "Rays, Mother?"

"Yes, my child. Those weapons which our Warriors could not comprehendare similar to those which, in the old legends, it is told the AncientOnes used to destroy each other. Vibrations that cause, in one casehorrible death; in the other case, stupefaction."

"But—but how?"

"I am not sure. But I think the cherry-light has the power of absorbingall water from the human body, thus dwindling it instantly to a husk.The green ray interrupts the nerve-centers, breaking the brain'scontacts with other organs." The Mother's face was resigned. "Allthese things and many others you would have learned, Meg, had not thiscatastrophe come upon us. And had not you returned from the Place ofthe Gods with—a mate."

Her last word reminded Meg of that latent question which the green rayhad driven from her mind. Instantly her heart was cold with dread.

"Daiv! Oh, Mother—Daiv! I do not see him. Is he one of—of those?"

Her eyes stared with horrid fascination at the tiny pile of simulacrathe invading warriors were raking together. But it was not the Motherwho answered. It was Lora, now come to their side. The WarriorChieftain's lean face was etched with scorn.

"No, Meg, your Man-thing is not there! That would be an honorable deathfor him."

Meg faltered, "Then—then where—?"

The Mother's eyes, in pity, would not meet Meg's. "He fled, Meg."

"Fled! Daiv fled!" Meg stared, every fibre of her body taut as the gutof a bow. "I—I do not believe it!"

Even Lora's harsh voice was more gentle as she said, "It is true. Hewas but a Man, Meg; a Man, weak and cowardly. With the first breath offighting he turned and fled the camp. Into the hills beyond."

The Mother intervened, "Perhaps it is better so, my daughter. Perhapsyour own madness escaped on his limbs? If ever we win free of thishost—"

Meg's new-found world of love and happiness crumpled into shards abouther feet. There was a redness on her cheeks, for Daiv and for herselfwho had let his mouth touch hers. The rains of weakness filled hereyes, and she said, "So be it, Mother—"

It was at that moment a coarse, guttural voice interrupted her.

"Ah—there she is! That's the one, Leekno. Step forth, ivory one!"

Meg turned. Staring at her, his lips red and moist as the pepper-fruit,was the golden-greaved and helmeted commander whose actions had at oncesaved her life and broken her will for battle. A fungoid puff-ball ofa man with twisting mouth, his eyes upon her made Meg feel suddenlynaked and unclean. She shuddered.

"Step forth, I say!" repeated the leader. A yellow soldier moved toenforce his command. Meg shook free of the underling's touch, moveda step forward with a proud freedom of motion that wakened a dancinglight in her accoster's eyes.

His voice was a purr of satisfaction.

"I was right. Very well, Leekno, you may distribute the other captivesto our men by lot. And mind there be no wrangling amongst them. Thisbarbarian I will take to my tent."

Meg demanded, "What is the meaning of this, little monster? Who are youto thus address a Priestess of the Jinnia Clan, and what would you ofme?"

The commander's slant eyes blinked in appreciative delight. "A spiritedfilly, this!" he murmured. "Know, then, Woman, that you are greatlyhonored. I am Grensu, captain of this band. We are a legion of themighty race of Japcans who rule in the sunny land of Mayco, many days'march to the south of here."

From behind Meg the aged Mother's voice stirred in sighing wonder."Mayco? In the books of the Ancient Ones it is written of a land bythat name. But its rulers were white men—"

Grensu made mirthless happy-sounds in his throat.

"The old one surprises me. Aye, withered crone, in the early days itwas as you say. But that was before the great wars, and before therebellion of the Women. Even then there were in Mayco many of our race,children of the Sun.

"But when mankind destroyed itself and the Ancient Ones died out,battling first each other, then between their sexes, we stayed aloof;we waited and planned and bred. Our Japni blood mixed well with thatof the Maycans, giving rise to the mighty stock we now represent—theJapcans." Grensu glanced down his own obese frame pridefully. "Now,not only are we the possessors of the secrets of the Ancient Ones'war-weapons, but we are become perfect in body and brain."

Meg laughed scornfully, "Little fat-bellied lemon, I could squeezebetween my fingers—so!" And she took a step toward Grensu. For asecond he looked startled; then an expression of mingled pique andadmiration mottled his pudgy features.

"You will make a haughty doe to tame, ivory one," he smirked, "but tameyou I will. Come!"

Still Meg did not move.

"Come where?"

"Have I not said," Grensu informed her, "that you are to be favored?Like the Wild Ones who infest the forests of your land, we of Maycofind need of new and sturdy mates. That is the purpose of ourexpedition. But you, white-limbs, I have chosen for myself!"

The high color rushed to Meg's cheeks.

"Me, little toadstool! Know you not I am a priestess and inviolate?"

Grensu's waning patience snapped. He turned to his lieutenant."Leekno—!" he said.

CHAPTER IV

Meg's Daring

But not at that moment was Meg to be forced to make the choice betweensubmission and death. For there came an interruption. One of the Japcanlieutenants approached the group, hailed his leader.

"The wall is set up, O Grensu! The men await your inspection beforesetting its field into operation."

Grensu snarled, "Away, sluggard. Cannot the men do the least thingwithout—Very well. I will come immediately. Leekno, stay you here andkeep a watchful eye on my reluctant priestess. I will return soon."

He waddled away, a lecherous ball of dough in gold armor. He joined ata little distance a group of invaders huddled over a strange, shiningbox. From this emanated fine bars of soft god-metal. There was briefconversation between Grensu and the workers, then one of the yellowdwarfs nodded and pressed down a standing lever.

There rose a startled cry from the captive Jinnia tribeswomen. For acrackling wave of thunder rolled about the camp; arcing out from thetwo arms of the magic box came an invisible something that sent dustflying as it scratched a mysterious circle about the entire village.

At the opposite end of this circle the two racing walls of invisibilitymet; there was a concussive echo and a blinding flash. Somewhere highabove came the rare pain-cry of a buzzard; as the Women watched, thesheered hinder half of a bird-of-prey plummeted to the ground, fellwith a thud, lay there flopping and bleeding—already dead!

Lora cried, "Walls without bricks!" and Meg looked at the guardincredulously.

"What marvel is this, ochre toad?" she asked. "I see no beam, no ray,yet a bird is slain."

Leekno growled, "Mind your tongue, Woman!" but he grinned. "The birdmust have been right above the circle when Togi switched on theforce-field."

"Force-field?" repeated Meg dazedly. She was not sure, now, but thatthe Clan had erred in opposing these invaders. Surely men—howsoeverugly and miscolored—who possessed magics like this must be Gods inthemselves. It might be wise to submit to them without further ado.Then she thought of her own tribal Gods. Of stern, judicial Jarg andsmiling Tedhi. Of the ringletted Taamuz and the sorrow-eyed Ibrimcarven in eternal rock in the salt wastes so many marches from here.No, her Gods were the true Gods....

"You don't know what a force-field is, eh, Woman? Well, I suppose not.Come along, then; I'll show you. It will teach you that you can'tescape."

Leekno led the way to the spot where armed guards huddled ever thegod-box. Grensu had left; with his engineers he had gone off to someprivy conference. Beside the scratched soil which marked the barrier,Leekno paused. His grin was mocking deviltry.

"I think, Woman," he said, "I shall let you escape. Flee now, while noone is looking."

Meg's heart leaped in her breast as a startled fawn at the voice of ahunter. Swiftly she breathed, "My undying thanks, yellow friend. Megthe Priestess will never forget this—"

She sprang forward. The surrounding forest was but a few yards distant;let her reach that leafy fastness no dwarfed invader could everrecapture her. She would flee to a neighboring tribe, there find helpfor her captured Clanswomen....

These thoughts spun dizzily through her brain as she took three ...four ... five leaping strides to freedom. And then there came aviolent, staggering shock! Pain trembled through her body, flooding herwith torment; it was as though a mighty hand had struck her across theface, bruised her straining breast, flung her backward.

She lay in a crumpled heap, dazed, shaken, upon the ground. And inher ears was the belly-deep, taunting laughter of the yellow-skinnedguards—and Leekno! Leekno's bulbous body quivered with jelly-likemirth; fun-waters streamed from his eyes.

"'Meg the Priestess,'" he howled, "'will never forget this'! How rightyou were, white-legs. Tell me, is it your bruises that will keep thememory fresh in your mind?"

Meg said nothing. But she reached out, cautiously, before her. Thistime it was a hesitant finger, rather than the reckless force of aheadlong plunge, that touched the invisible wall. Even so, her fingerjerked like a slain snake as jolting current grounded through her. Herjaw set, Meg endured the pain, pressing.

Nothing happened. With every ounce of her whiplash strength behind thatfinger, she could not make it penetrate that barrier.

She rose, a great anger cold in the pit of her stomach. To thestill-laughing guards she said, "This is a coward's weapon, O dwarfsthe color of slime! Yet it will take more than this wall-without-bricksto save you when my neighboring Clanswomen come to rescue us. Theirswords and arrows will hack this fanged barrier to bits—"

"So?" mocked Leekno. "Move aside, Togi." And he stepped over thegod-box, moved to his right, and was facing Meg. "Togi will lend youhis dagger, Woman. Hurl it at my breast and learn the truth."

Meg snatched the proffered weapon eagerly. And in the same movementspun and whipped it squarely at Leekno's bulky frame. There was abrief, scintillant prick of light. The dagger dropped harmlessly toearth at the circle's rim. Leekno's thick lips continued to grin as hereturned through the portal which stretched above the box.

"Thus you have learned, Woman, that there is no escape. And now—backto your companions!"

The Mother said, "Meg!" Her voice was a whisper, so low that Meg couldscarcely hear it.

The priestess bent beside her. "Yes, Mother?"

"The force-wall. You have seen it?"

Meg said despairingly, "I have seen it, Mother. No Woman can passthrough it. Nor can a weapon."

"Yet," whispered the older woman weakly, "there is an avenue ofescape. I watched while the yellow one taunted you. As all who mock,he revealed his own weakness. Did you not notice that twice he passedunharmed through the wall?"

Meg said sadly, "Not through, O Mother. But at the point of meetingwhere lies the god-box. I—" Then quick excitement touched herfingertips with fire. "Mother! That which he did, so can I do also!"

"Hush, my daughter! Yes, from that point only may you hope to escape.And escape you must, Meg. Flee to the Clan at Loovil, tell them ofour plight. Once we aided them when the Wild Ones laid siege to theirvillage. Their Mother will lend you Warriors; perhaps other Clans willalso help."

Meg begged, "But, Mother,how? I cannot—"

"I have shown you the way, Meg. You must take care of the rest."

The Mother fell back, breathing heavily. The crisp rasp of footstepsraised Meg's head. Grensu, his investigations ended, had returned toclaim his linbered mate. There was triumph in his eyes as Meg rose,obedient to his command.

"So, ivory one, you have decided to accept my favors? That is well.Come with me!"

Only Meg knew that her meekness was the blind obedience of a bodyreacting without the counsel of a mind. Meg was thinking, thinkingdesperately. Seeking some ruse which would give her the time, theopportunity, the speed and the weapon she needed.

Grensu, warfare forgotten now, was anticipating a pleasant interlude."You will not find me a bad companion," he boasted. "I am a mightyleader and a strong man, my wild doe—"

Doe! Suddenly it was all clear in Meg's mind. The Japcans had, uponseizing the village, immediately taken into custody the few horsesowned by the Jinnia Clanswomen. But there was Nessa! Surely no onecould suspect that soft-eyed creature of being anything but a camp pet;of being a steed broken to the rein and spur....

She turned to Grensu with an exclamation of dismay.

"My doe! My lovely pet! You destroyed her?"

Grensu said placatingly, "Was the doe thine, white one? No, she has notbeen killed—yet. Though her meat—"

Meg prayed that the Japcan leader would read the actions of her bodyrather than the purpose that stood printed in her burning eyes.

"You are going to kill my Nessa? My lovely doe; my pet from childhood?You must let me see her once again, bid her farewell—"

"Now, Woman," snapped Grensu crossly, "there is no time for that!"

"I beg it of you—" Meg drew a deep breath, hating the word that mustdefile her lips, "—my Master!"

"Well, if you must, then." Grensu looked pleased. It was a small priceto pay for willing compliance. His face still bore the nail-marks ofthat screaming harridan he had captured in Lanta, and she had been amuch less tempting morsel than this Woman. "Well, if you must—"

He turned aside, led Meg to the small grassy patch in which Nessa,untethered, was wont to graze. With a cry of gladness Meg threw herarms about the doe's neck. She sobbed openly, startling even thewell-trained Nessa with the fervor of her caresses. And purposely shetook a long time; so long that Grensu's impatience rose.

"That will do now, Woman. Let us go!"

"Not yet! Not yet!" pleaded Meg. "Later—"

"Now!" insisted Grensu. He stepped forward to disengage Meg's arms. Forthe barest fraction of a second his both hands were free and weaponless.

And in that split second Meg moved. "About!" she cried to Nessa. Thedoe wheeled, throwing Grensu off balance. As he tottered, vain ball ofyellow fat, Meg's left arm found his throat, choked him into crimsonbreathlessness. Her free hand whipped the golden sword from hisscabbard; then, as he fell limply to the ground, she sprang to Nessa'sback.

"On, Nessa!" she screamed—and her heels bit the doe's flanks.

Meg leaped astride the doe, and kicked her heels into its flanks. With a wild leap it sprang into motion through the ranks of the little men.

She was halfway across the open walk-avenue of the village before thefirst startled cry of warning seared an invader's throat. She wasflaming down upon the god-box, the narrow gateway of the magic wall, bythe time that shout had spun its guardians' heads about.

Then there was mad confusion. Meg cried, "Nessa! Leap, Nessa!" evenas Togi and his companion guards fumbled for their ray-sticks. Theforemost was the first to lift his weapon to her breast—but even as hewould have released its charge Meg's sword was biting through the thinplate of his shoulder-harness.

The Japcan screamed horribly and clutched with his free hand at agrisly stump from which spurted a scarlet ribbon of blood. The fingersof his severed arm contracted in an insensate reflex; cherry flamespewed from a stick rolling aimlessly upon the ground—and another ofthe guards crisped into steaming filth before it.

Now a jolt shook Meg as Nessa's cloven hooves met solid earth, and abrazen cry of gladness split the air.

"On, Nessa!"

It was like part of some nightmarish dream to see that beneath andbehind her lay groveling bodies of those who would have stayed herpassage; that the blade of her once gleaming sword now glinted withthe bright crimson of death. But it was a joyous dream—for she wasover the portal, through the barrier. Just a few more strides of thefrightened doe, now, and she would be safe within the forest.

If—she glanced back over her shoulder. If one of those now springingfrom the camp did not succeed in snaring her brain once again with thatgreen ray. Or if—but Meg did not want to think about that other moreruthless weapon.

Her deft hands guided Nessa right ... then left ... a zigzag path tospoil the dwarfling's aim. Once air hissed and crackled beside her headas a burst of cherry-flame just missed her, flashed by to cinder a hugetree instantly into a withered, massive twig. Her nostrils caught thestench of scorched hair, and Nessa whimpered piteously—but the doe'shoofbeats never faltered.

Once again Meg's brain spun with a brief moment of dizziness; shefound herself thinking how pale and lovely was the sunset—and knew,instantly, that the green ray had found her. She ducked her head witha last conscious gesture, and was rewarded by feeling sense flood backlike a cleansing tide.

And then green branches were whipping across her face, her fair skinwas slashed with the hungry clutch of forest brambles—but she didnot feel their hurt. Joy rose in her heart, joy like the glory of thenewborn moon. Free! Free to find aid for her Clanswomen!

Free to—

At the last moment she saw it! Saw it and screamed a sharp cry toNessa. The trained doe obeyed that cry, but both Meg and the deer werepowerless before the eternal force that bore them onward—the force ofgravitation.

For that which Meg, too late, had seen, was a patch of green soiltoo fresh, too even, to match the surrounding earth. Even as Nessa'sscrambling feet struggled vainly for security, even as Meg felt herselfpitching headlong and helpless from the doe's back, she knew thatDaiv—gone, now, forever—had been right in cursing the traps withwhich her Clan destroyed the Wild Ones.

It was one of these traps that now, in her moment of triumph, haddestroyed her!

Then Nessa's querulous bleat was in her ears; her loins quiveredwith the fall-feeling; the sunlight fled, and darkness engulfed all.Darkness and great, dizzying circles of pain that drove the breathfrom her body. She tried to cry out. The cry died in her throat. Fieryneedles scored her arm, and breath deserted her. Dull silence....

CHAPTER V

Wrath and Uprising

It was a strange heaven and hell in which she stirred feebly. Heavenbecause she rested on a soft, warm couch of fur; hell because a hordeof flaming pain-imps wrenched and tugged and twisted at her sword-arm.Heaven because a thick, earthy fragrance was about her; hell becausedinning in her ears was a babble of coarse and indistinguishablechatter.

Meg opened her eyes—then closed them, shuddering violently—knowing,now, that this was neither heaven nor hell, but life. Life futile andunwanted.

She was lying at the bottom of the Wild One trap, her right arm bentcrookedly beneath her, her body aching with a hundred bruises. Butalive. Alive because the warm, furry bed on which she lay was the bodyof Nessa, cruelly pierced and broken by the sharp-pointed sticks fromwhich the doe's bulk had saved Meg.

Meg's eyes filled with waters of sorrow and pain. Sweet Nessa, gallantNessa, was gone. And now—

And now above her, squat silhouettes against the blue sky, were theJapcans from whom she hadalmost escaped. Even now one of theirnumber was being lowered into the pit; was reaching for her warily, onehand clutching a ray-stick. Meg groped, with her good left hand, forthe sword she had dropped, but the yellow dwarf's finger tightened,green radiation expunged all thought from her brain. As in a dream shefelt herself being lifted and borne, surrounded by fat figures whosevoices were raised in angry condemnation.

Then she was again within the confines of the camp and Grensu wasbefore her, his tiny, slant eyes aflame with bitterness.

"You have animal cunning, priestess of a barbarian race," spat theJapcan commander. "I erred in believing you docile. Henceforth yourtaming will be that of the scourge and the chain."

Meg said nothing. But she noticed, her head lifting proudly, thatsome of the little man's confidence had deserted him, and that as hespoke he moved his stiff neck gingerly from side to side. There wasthrottling strength in the crook of Meg's elbow.

Leekno, his sallow face rebellious, was at Grensu's side.

"What is your command, O Grensu? Shall we destroy the white-limbed one?"

Leadership and desire met in conflict on Grensu's swart features. "Thewoman pleases me—" he growled.

"She slew," reminded the lesser officer, "Togi, Ras and Yinga. Twoothers lie wounded. It is written in the Law 'Death shall be punishedwith death—'"

"I know the Law!" snapped Grensu. "But now we are not in Mayco. Here,I am the Law. And I am minded to—" A hesitation halted his words. OfMeg he demanded, "Make your plea, Woman. Grensu listens."

There was a coursing pain in Meg's arm that began at her fingertips,sped through forearm and upper arm, spread even to the rest of herbody, turning her stomach with nausea. Her heart was sick withdisappointment. Almost had she succeeded. But "almost" was a bitterdraught from the waters of might-have-been.

This day, which had dawned so fair and with such great hopes, hadbecome a leaden weight to her heart. There was nothing, now, worthliving for. Daiv, her mate, in combat had proven a coward. The belovedMother of her Clan lay dying. A score of her sisters were pellets ofdeath, heaped in a pile of rubble. Her last, desperate attempt atfreedom had failed.

"I make no plea, yellow man," she said haughtily.

The Japcan warriors muttered amongst themselves. Grensu's ripe lipspursed irately.

"You do not understand, ivory one. I offer you one last opportunity.Pledge fealty to me at even this late moment and your life will bespared. Your wounds will be soothed by our healers, and, yes, even nowGrensu will permit you the great honor of becoming his mate." His slanteyes probed hers. "Well, Woman? What is your answer?"

A laugh of sheer hysteria; a laugh that was half a sob, broke fromMeg's throat. She stepped toward the little yellow commander.

"This is my answer!"

And she spat squarely in the dwarfling's face!

Grensu turned livid. Beneath his yellow skin the blood surgedunhealthily, turning him to a sallow parody of a man. Fat fingers shookas he wiped his face, screamed viciously, "Seize her! Put her to thesword, Leekno! No—wait!"

Flames of pure hatred danced from his eyes. "Who defiles the haughtyblood of Japcan shall not die thus painlessly. Her death shall be aslow one; one in which, shrieking for mercy, she shall have time toremember this moment!"

He stood quivering, shaken, searching the dregs of his mind for afitting torment. Meg, waiting, saw from the corner of her eye a faintmovement to her right. The Warrior Chieftain, Lora, had stolen closeto one of the stunted invaders; her hand was even now reaching forhis sword. Meg knew the meaning of that trial. Lora well knew she hadno chance to fight or escape; her sole purpose was to clutch thatsword and plunge it through Meg's heart to spare the priestess worsehorrors. Then, though both of them died, their deaths would be cleanand welcome....

Meg wrenched her eyes away; tensed her body for the moment of coldfire. And then—

There came a shout from the portal. The voice of a Japcan guard cryingamusedly, "By the Serpent, O Grensu—we are attacked by a band of nakedapes! Come you and view this wonder!"

All wheeled. And a swift hope flamed in Meg as she saw that the newbesiegers were—a host of the Wild Ones!

Lora, at Meg's side in one swift bound, cried out hoarsely, "What othermarvels shall the Gods send us this day, my priestess? Behold, even theskulking rats of the forest have this day turned against us! Are we,then, accursed?"

But Meg, forgetting her pain as for the moment she had been forgotten,gasped as the full import of this raid broke upon her.

"It is notus they attack, Lora! See who commands the Wild Ones!"

The leader was not hard to discern. His supple, hairless body stoodout like a living white flame against the background of gnarled, hairyones. His chestnut mane towered a full head above the tallest of theWild Ones, and he bore a great, rusted, two-handed sword in one hand,waving it as a child a shaking-gourd. It was Daiv!

Then Grensu's hand was upon Meg's shoulder, spinning her about. To abrace of yellow warriors he was howling, "To thehoams with thisprisoner. We will attend to her when we have broken these foolishMan-things from the forests. Come!"

He moved away with his lieutenants as Meg was taken to thehoamwherein her sisters had been confined. Brutally she was shoved inside;the two guards took their posts at the doorway. Meg pushed her way to awindow to better watch the battle.

There was little—pitifully little—to watch. By the time she reachedher vantage point, the horde of Wild Ones had deployed in a greatcircle about the Jinnia village; now, at a signal from Daiv, they roselike a great, swarthy tide and rushed down upon their enemy.

With their advance, a groan of despair rose from the imprisoned women.Daiv had made his escape too soon. He had not seen, had not suspected,the existence of a weapon such as the Japcans' force-wall. At onemoment a throng of roaring Wild Ones was racing upon the village; atthe next, scores were piled, shaken and bruised, before that invisiblebarrier, unharmed, but—futile!

How futile, they did not at first realize. There was courage in thehearts of the Wild Ones. Courage the existence of which the Clanswomenhad not dreamed. Despite their bruises and the racking pain which—Megknew from experience—was throbbing through their veins, they rose fromthe ground; they hurled themselves once again and viciously at the wallthey could not see.

Lances shattered against that impenetrable force-field; swords werehammered into blunt grips—but the Wild Ones could not effect entry.

Daiv was everywhere at once; begging, pleading, cajoling his new-foundarmy into greater effort. Twice Meg trembled as he threw himself vainlyagainst that force; she matched, with her own cheeks, the whitenessin his as the second time he picked himself up weak, pain-racked,exhausted. She gripped the arm of the Woman nearest her; it was Lora.

An invisible wall seemed to rear itself before him as Daiv hurled his body forward.

"They outnumber the Japcans. That is what my mate counted on; thatthough many might fall before the rays of the yellow ones, enough wouldbreak through to free us! We must help them!"

Lora shook her head grimly.

"The Gods know we want to. But we cannot."

"We can! If we can turn off that god-box before it is too late—!"

Meg screamed the final words. For she had seen, now, that which mustultimately destroy the attackers. The Japcans, having had their fillof mirth at the sight of this impossible attack, were now preparingto go into action. In full view of the Wild Ones they were spreadingout, taking positions behind the invisible wall. Their ray-sticks werepoised and ready. A signal came from Grensu, grinning evilly in thecenter of the walk-avenue.

"Drop screen! Fire! Up screen!"

As swiftly as he spoke, the events occurred. The engineer at thegod-box threw up his lever; instantly sticks in two score hands spewedcherry flame into the ranks of the Wild Ones. Steam rose; bodiesdisappeared; weapons dropped from hands now dwindled into cinders.Then the force-field was replaced. By sheer chance, one or two hurledweapons flashed through in the brief instant the barrier was down. Onedwarf clutched, screaming miserably, at a pronged lance that splithis throat in twain, bore him backward and pinned him to the groundto writhe out his life. Another collapsed, moaning, his thigh-boneshattered by a huge, hurled stone.

Meg's eyes sought Daiv frantically; found him. He still lived, but evenat that distance she could read the sickness in his eyes as he stareddazedly at the dead about him.

Even as she watched, Grensu gave the triple order again. "Drop screen!Fire! Up screen!"

And once more death stalked amongst the attackers, choosing his victimswith fingers of cherry-flame....

Lora's grasp shook the dread from Meg's eyes.

"You are the swiftest among us, priestess," cried the WarriorChieftain. "You must reach the god-box."

Then Meg saw that Lora had not been inactive. She had gathered abouther all those of the Clan who were not disabled. A motley crew theywere. Hard-lipped Warriors, coarse-skinned Workers. There wereeven—amazingly—three breeding-mothers in that little band! Theirbillowing hips and pale, soft faces were strange attributes for afighting woman, but their eyes were lighted with the same fire thatsuffused the eyes of Meg and Lora.

One of these, a woman named 'Ana, said now to Meg, "Once long ago,Priestess, I too aspired to be a Mother. It was not so fated, and thismore humble lot became mine. But I will do my little part for you, forthe Mother, and for the Clan—"

Lora interrupted crisply, "You're slim, Meg, and you're fast. We willcreate a disturbance at the door—" A tight and humorless smile playedupon her lips. "Then must you break through the window, somehow reachthe god-box."

Meg nodded. Her right arm dangled loosely at her side, but the painthat had seared it was devoured now in a greater intensity, a morevital urge. "So be it, Lora!"

"Then strike, Women!" cried the chieftain. Strong shoulders struck thedoor with ravaging force; wood splintered, and the door burst from itshinges like a splitting pod. Outside, the two yellow guards wheeled,their eyes wide, their hands streaking for the ray-sticks in theirharnesses. One raised a shout.

Meg had only time to see that her Clanswomen were pounding throughthe doorway, that both guards had fallen before them, that the tumulthad drawn the attention of the yellow men assembled in their tacticalcircle. All eyes were focused on the escaping prisoners spilling fromthe door; no one noticed as she clambered awkwardly from the window onthe farther side of thehoam.

It was Meg's village; she knew its every twist and turn. She did nottake at all times to the shortest route; she chose that which woulddisclose her least as she moved toward the vulnerable spot of theJapcan defense; the god-box.

But if the dwarfs could not see her, neither could she see them. Shemarked the progress of the split battle by those few sounds she couldidentify. Most important was the fact that she did not again hearGrensu's voice raised in the commands to drop and raise the force-wall.Destruction was, then, not presently breathing through the ranks of theWild Ones....

But her own folk? Meg could only pray silently to the gods that theirbravery might not be in vain—and continue running.

It was a short journey, but the torment within her brain made itendless. It seemed hours later that Meg found herself finallyslipping through the last shaded alley, facing the spot which was herdestination—the spot on the invisible circle's perimeter where lay thegod-box.

Now confronted her but a few scant yards, and these the most dangerousof all. Could she cross these without drawing the fire of the guardsabout the box, she could lift that lever, if only for a moment, and letin the battering host of Wild Ones. Once she had raised it, Meg vowed,the lever would remain upright so long as she had a hand to hold it.

The Gods favored her in two ways. The guards about the box were lookingthe other way, gaping at this astonishing counter-attack being madeby the supposedly vanquished Women. And—at Meg's feet lay somethingthat had been overlooked by the detail of yellow soldiery assigned tocleaning up evidence of the first battle! One of the yellow invaders'ray-sticks!

With difficulty Meg stifled the cry that leaped to her lips. From forceof habit, she stopped to lift the stick with her right hand; wincedwith pain when those benumbed fingers touched the ground and refusedto grasp the object. Her left hand gripped it, held it; her questingfingers found the button that activated its ray.

Which ray, Meg had no way of knowing. Nor could she take time toexperiment. Like a swift, golden ghost she sprang from the shelter ofher alley into the cleared space. She was halfway across that spacewhen one of the guardians of the god-box, by sheer chance, happened toturn and see her.

His mouth opened in a shout of warning that never emerged. For Meglifted the stick—pressed the button! A spurt of cherry-flame engulfedthe dwarf, and he sank lifeless to the ground.

But his death was warning enough. Shock slowed the turn of theother guardians, and in their slowness lay their doom. Meg's fingerremained rigid on the button; her ray swept clear the defenders of theforce-field—and she had reached her goal!

With a great shout of triumph she stumbled through that foul, steamymist, feeling scorched cinders beneath her feet, and found the lever.With a mighty heave of her shoulders she forced it upward—

Then all was Bedlam!

CHAPTER VI

"The Old Order Changeth—"

A new note rose suddenly in the din of battle. It had been a howlingnote of despair before; the outraged cries of impotent Wild Onesmingling with the dying screams of the gallant Women. Now there rose tothe skies a paean of joyous triumph. Hoarse masculine voices cheeredmadly as the horde of hairy Wild Ones found the barrier before themgone. Daiv foremost, their avenging circle closed in upon the village.

Where but a few moments before this engagement had been a slaughterof the Jinnians upon which the Wild Ones had been forced to lookhelplessly, now the battle became a free-for-all, split into ahalf-hundred tiny sectors.

Here a cherry-flame, wielded by a retreating dwarf in tarnished armor,winked its ruddy eye amongst Men who cried out, steamed, and fell.There a dozen Wild Ones hurled themselves upon a tiny knot of Japcans,literally ripped the yellow men into bloody shreds, and raced on—withone of the Wild Ones now brandishing a lethal ray-stick!

Still another place a handful of Mayco invaders fought vainly to fighta diverse foe—the Women before them and the Wild Ones who charged upontheir flank. Up to now the Japcans had been content to subdue thisJinnia uprising with the green, stupefying ray; now they broke outtheir red weapon. Meg curdled with agony to see Women die beneath thatcherry-flame.

But—Daiv?

Even as her mind asked the question, she found him. He had been atthe farthermost perimeter of the circle; now he was racing recklesslyacross the central arena toward her. In haste or sheer bravado he hadpicked up no ray-weapon, but still brandished the huge, two-handedsword with which he had stormed the citadel.

But it was not this that miraculously saved his life from the lightningof crimson that flashed about him. It was his instinctive grace andagility, his perfect sense of timing. More than once Meg's lips formeda wordless shout as it seemed one of those flaming tubes must surelyspend its charge on his smooth, gallant body. Each time Daiv saw thenew danger, swerved to avoid the ray. And more than once his mightysword accounted for the dwarf who would have been his destroyer.

Then, from another angle of the courtyard, burst a fat, bustlingfigure. Grensu. His golden armor, once so proud, was now dented in ascore of places; there was a red stain upon his forehead, his ripe lipswere working with a fearsome rage.

His objective was Meg, and upon her he was advancing, mouthing vilethreats.

"So, ivory one, you think to triumph at last? Know, then, that Grensutakes with him in defeat his adversaries!"

And he raised his ray-weapon to cover Meg. For the first time in allthose hectic moments, a sense of personal fear weakened the Priestess'knees. It had not seemed ill to die for a worthy cause. But now—whenthe cause was almost won, and when, in moments, her lover's arms wouldhave been about her—But, as ever, Grensu's vaingloriousness was hisown undoing. Once too often had he stayed his vengeance for a speech.Now as his finger tightened on the button that would blast Meg intorancid oblivion a tremendous object came hurtling through the air.

It was Daiv's claymore. Seeing there was no other way to halt Grensu'smove, Daiv had heaved it squarely at the dwarfling commander with allthe strength his mighty arms possessed. It was like a whistling flailof the Gods as it cleft the air; ripped the ray-tube from Grensu'shand, and with the spitting stick sheared yellow fingers.

Then, even as Grensu howled his pain and turned to flee, Daiv was uponhim. He lifted the squat, heavy dwarf, massive armor and all, above hishead; shook him as a dog might shake a ground-rat. Grensu's thick lipsblubbered incoherent pleas, his eyes bulged wildly. But there was stonein Daiv's breast.

By the head and the calves he grasped the screaming commander; his armsmade one sweeping motion. Grensu's fearful bleat ended in a choked wailof agony ... something snapped like a forest twig....

Grensu lay still.

Afterward, one of the Wild Ones came to Daiv where he stood with Megbeside a god-box that now lay quiescent on the ground.

"They call for the Priestess, Master," he grinned. "The Old One liesdying. Will you bring the lovely one to thehoam?"

Daiv said, "I have told you, Wilm, that it is not necessary to call me'Master.' I am a Man, like yourself; we are all Men, proud and noble.Do not forget." To Meg he said, "You remember Wilm; don't you, GoldenOne?"

Meg did, though it was difficult to see behind the grinning, confidentfeatures of this hairy one the same terrified creature whom Daivhad rescued from the pit just the day—could it be so short atime?—before. She nodded.

"I remembered Wilm," Daiv told her with a happy-look, "when thelemon-skinned dwarf band attacked us. From the first I knew our defensewas futile. We were too few. We needed more, and stronger fighters.So I went for the aid of the Wild Ones—aid which Wilm had pledged meshould I need it.

"Though," he shook his head ruefully, "I did not know they would havethis other weapon, the wall-that-cannot-be-seen, when we returned.Without your help, Golden One, all would have been lost."

"And without his," mused Meg, "I should be the pale bride of death." Itwas an unprecedented gesture for a Woman and a Priestess of the JinniaClan to make, but Meg made it. She stretched forth her hand. "I wouldgrip your hand in my own, Man of the forests. Henceforth let there bepeace between us."

She winced at Wilm's enthusiastic grip. Then, "But let us make haste, ODaiv, my love. The Mother sends for me; I fear she will soon go to jointhe Gods."

There was already the God-look in the Mother's eyes when they reachedthehoam. A look of strange peace, mingled with one of happiness, asshe looked fondly upon Meg.

"I am to be with you but a little while longer, my daughter," shebreathed quietly. "The Gods have called me, their voices stirred in myears like the whisper of night-winds in the trees. Soon I shall go."

Meg's happiness was suddenly gray with the cloud of heart-hunger. Shedropped to her knees beside the older woman's side.

"You must not go, O Mother!" she sobbed. "There is much to be done, andonly thy wisdom can achieve it."

The pale hand of the tribal guardian sought, found, Meg's golden head.

"You speak the truth, daughter mine. There is so much to be done. Butalready you know how to lead our Clan upward to the stature of theAncient Ones. With your mate at your side—"

There was a concerted gasp from the assembled Women of the Clan. TheMother, hearing, smiled wanly.

"Yes, thus openly do I approve that of which, from the beginning, myheart approved. Listen, my children—Meg was right. In her pilgrimageshe learned, as did I many winters ago, that the Gods were Men. Menlike Daiv. She rebelled against the Law that said a Priestess might notmate—but she was right in her rebellion.

"List, now, for with the all-seeing eyes of one on the threshold ofdeath I tell you truth. It is right that Women should mate with Men.There should be no Workers, no Warriors, no breeding-mothers. Our Clanshould own no stud-males, pale chattels like our kine and horses. Allthis is wrong."

Lora, her harsh-lined face sagging with confusion, cried, "But,Mother—the Wild Ones!"

"Never again must we prey upon the Wild Ones. Do you not see that theGods avenged our doing so when they permitted Meg to be captured in oneof the pits we dug?

"Henceforth—" The Mother's voice grew weaker, and a hurt-devil piercedMeg's heart. "There will be peace and amity between Women and the WildOnes. I see a day—a day in the future to come—when mankind may againattain to the heights of the Ancient Ones. In that day the children ofthe Ancient Ones may return from the evening star to find a new worldhappier than that from which they fled—"

Daiv whispered to Meg, "Her holiness is one with the Gods. Hear now hersacred vision!" and Meg saw that his eyes were wet with heart-rains.

Then said the Mother to Meg, "Once I deferred judgment upon you, mychild. Now I give my approval of you ... and of this Man who is thymate ... and of all you have done. Lead well thy people...." And shewas gone.

A soft murmur stirred through the room, a murmur that was the sobbingof a bereaved Clan. One by one the Women left the presence of death forthe sunshine and life of the world outside.

Only a huddled group of Japcan captives, over whom grim-jawed Warriorsstood guard, the bodies of those who had fallen in the battle, thescarred and blastedhoams, told of that which had been. Soon all thiswould be changed; a new and better existence would rise out of themistakes of yesterday.

Wilm was capering at Daiv's side, plucking at his elbow feverishly."Daiv, Master—"

"Not 'Master,' Wilm!" reminded Daiv sternly.

"Daiv, friend," corrected the Wild One. "Will the Women do as the agedone told them? Will they now, perhaps, become our mates?"

There was a pathetic eagerness in his voice. Meg was strangely stirredby it. Not so the angular Lora, who sniffed aloud.

"The Mother's word is the Law, O hairy thing that smells." Her voicewas derisive. "What Woman of our Clan so excites your fancy? One ofthose, I suppose?" She nodded toward a young and buxom breeding-mother,white-fleshed and not yet plump from over-bearing, who strolled downthe walk-avenue with hips swaying enticingly.

But Wilm shook his head.

"That?" he exclaimed. "Pah! What Man would want such a wobbly thing?I like a strong Woman; a Woman with arms like a weathered oak. Afighting Woman. A Woman like—" He paused breathlessly. Then, "A Womanlike—you!"

"Me!"

The Warrior Chieftain gasped. Then the slow crimson started at herthroat, spread slowly upward until it mantled her cheeks. And her voicewas choked. "Likeme, Man?"

"Not justlike you," said Wilm staunchly. "You!"

Meg waited for the Chieftain's reply, atingle inside with wondermentand tickling little fun-bubbles. Then Lora spoke, and her answer wasthe answer of all womankind to the new regime....

"You must be mad, Man!" she declared. "But—but I think I like yourmadness. We'll discuss it further if you'll go bathe the smell fromyour body. And shave off thatawful beard...."

Meg looked at Daiv; he looked back at her, and a happy-look was on hislips. He whispered, "The change has begun, Golden One. The change forwhich I hoped. We will live in a new world soon. Surely the poet of theAncient Ones wrote truth."

"Poet?" asked Meg. "I do not understand, Daiv."

"His name," said Daiv softly, "was Tensun. Long ages ago he wrote,'The old order changeth, giving way to new ... and the Gods fulfillthemselves in many ways....'"